Early December might seem like a long time ago now, but back then, the Grizzlies were off to a 14-3 start and it was easy to picture them as a potential darkhorse in the Western Conference. They had size, reasonable depth and a coach who had imprinted a very tough defensive identity on his players. There would be downswings, and even at their best, the Grizzlies were not quite of the caliber of the Spurs and Thunder—heck, there was still a chance then that the Lakers would pull their act together—but Memphis at least figured to be a factor in the West.

Now, in mid-May, with a 3-1 lead in the conference semifinals over the Russell Westbrook-less Thunder, it’s time to pull the Grizzlies from the ranks of the darkhorses and face the fact: There is a very good chance that the Grizzlies, whether they play the Spurs or the Warriors, can win the West. And land in the NBA Finals.

Chew on that. As good as the Grizzlies have been, there are so many logical reasons to think they should not be in the Finals. Yet this team has a chance to defy logic, to treat conventional wisdom the way Marc Gasol treats a can of Barbasol—with utter disdain. Just think what we would be getting with Memphis in the Finals, think about how much weirdness would be involved:

A bizarre roster. The Grizzlies’ starting five features one player—point guard Mike Conley—who was a lottery pick, and even at that, Conley was a much-criticized selection who was even more heavily criticized after the Grizzlies agreed to give him a contract extension. Franchise cornerstones Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol arrived in Memphis with considerable baggage, with Randolph coming, amazingly enough, in a straight-up swap for Quentin Richardson in 2009 after being jettisoned by Isiah Thomas’ Knicks, and Gasol coming as the centerpiece in the widely panned deal that sent his brother Pau to the Lakers. At the time, Marc Gasol was nothing more than a second-round pick playing in Spain, whose rights were owned by LA. Randolph (19th in 2001), Tony Allen (25th in 2004) and Tayshaun Prince (23rd in 2002) round out the lowly drafted starting unit. Off the bench, Jerryd Bayless (11th in 2008) was a lottery pick, but the two other prime reserves, Quincy Pondexter (26th in 2010) and Darrell Arthur (27th in 2008), were back-end draft picks.

A team that made cost-cutting mid-season trades. It is hard enough for a team to earn a place in the Finals when it makes an in-season trade, but teams that typically do so—like the Lakers when they got Gasol in ’08—get there by acquiring an All-Star caliber player. The Grizzlies, though, did just the opposite. They gave up a near-All-Star and their leading scorer, forward Rudy Gay, in January, sending him to Toronto in a deal that brought in Prince, Austin Daye and Ed Davis. That came just after a salary-dump deal that sent away two of the team’s most useful reserves (Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights) and a first-round draft pick for little-used Jon Leuer. It was a lopsided deal because the Grizzlies were worried about the looming luxury tax, and the only way to avoid it was to dump salaries and be rid of Gay. And yet, the Grizzlies are a potential Finals team.

A coach with an expiring contract. Since a change of ownership, the status of coach Lionel Hollins has been left open-ended. His contract is up at the end of the year, and on a typical team, that would mean discipline would be all but impossible to maintain and players would tune out a guy who might not be back anyway. Yet Hollins has kept control of his team, and has essentially forced the new owners to give him a contract—he said the other day that he was confident the team would bring him back. If they make it to the Finals, it’ll have to be a pretty sizable contract.

A small market just 18 months after the lockout. System issues. Remember that? That was the way David Stern and the league’s owners described their desire to use the NBA’s lockout to fix a system that was weighted toward the monied teams, the ones that could pull down big revenues from local media deals and use those revenues to scoff at the luxury tax. Small markets were in trouble, and the new collective bargaining agreement would have to rescue them. But here we are, considering the possibility of Memphis—the 29th-ranked market in the NBA, and the 48th in the nation—in the Finals, well before the real weight of the CBA (and of the league’s revenue-sharing plan) kicks in. Realistically, the new CBA actually hurt the Grizzlies because the threat of the coming luxury tax increases forced the midseason cost-cutting trades. But, system issues be damned, they’re on the brink of the conference finals.

Zach Randolph at the podium. More than anything, this is something to look forward to for fans and media members alike. Randolph is always an entertaining interview, always honest and very often colorful in his answers—you won’t get much “Both teams played hard,” from this guy. As he was quoted by ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelbourne, talking about Marc Gasol, “Marc’s from Memphis man. Marc’s tough. Marc played with all the guys from the ghetto, from south Memphis to north Memphis. And now he’s been around me.” Give that man a microphone, and the NBA Finals’ entertainment factor will skyrocket.